Man Jailed After Hunting And Raping Victim He Friend Request

A man's been jailed for at least four years after stalking and raping a young woman in a car park, after friend requesting her on Facebook.

Anjan Shrestha was found guilty of one count of rape after a court heard he followed a woman from a Melbourne night club in August 2014, before sexually assaulting her.

Mr Shrestha who moved to Australia from Nepal to study, had never met the woman before the attack, but recognised her from Facebook and followed her.

The court heard the Nepalese man, was lurking in the area as he believed his girlfriend was cheating on him in the vicinity and had set out to stalk her.

Instead, his attention was drawn elsewhere after spotting the victim who he recognised from Facebook. The court heard Mr Shrestha decided to follow the woman after noticing she became separated from her friends when she stopped to get a kebab.

Realising the victim would need to walk through a nearby car park to catch up with her friends, the court heard the 29-year-old positioned his car in the corner of the car park knowing she could have to walk past him.

He turned off the headlights and grabbed the victim as she approached, forcing her to the ground. It's understood she heard him call her name but ignored him.

'[You] grabbed her, pushed her to the ground ... mounted her by straddling her, calling her name, saying you had her on Facebook,' Judge Geoff Chettle said.

It's believed the woman attempted to fight back and was able to momentarily get away from her attacker, but terrifyingly he managed to grab her again, forcing her to the ground before digitally penetrating her.

Mr Shrestha's defence was that he was the victim of the attack, telling the court the woman had approached him after recognising him from Facebook and that he had helped her when she fell down. He claimed she then forced his hands down into her underwear, according to the Age.

Judge Chettle sentenced the man to six years jail with a non-parole period of four years after concluding he posed a threat of re-offending after a psychologist found he had a 'sense of sexual entitlement.' He also ordered Mr Shrestha be put on the sex offenders register.

According to the Herald Sun, Judge Chettle said the the 29-year-old deserved a much harsher sentence, but he was unable to impose one due to 'out of touch' sentencing practices.

Mr Shrestha is expected to be deported once his sentence has been served.